Amethyst Eyes
by The cat and the fox
Summary: Sanzo-ikkou hits the roads again. But...


Joint venture with Kuroi Neko-kun…again! This is her idea but she couldn't quite get it out so I tried and here it is!! She edited it also, since it's her idea, so I need her final approval!! Arigatou aneki!! =P

Disclaimers: Suika and Hokou belongs to me! Muahahahah!!! The rest belongs to Minekura Kazuya…not mine. *shrugs* Oh well…

* * *

"Hara hentaa~!!!" Goku whined as they got nearer to town. They had spent three nights out in the open, feeding on whatever's left of their provision. And our beloved Son Goku helped himself to a couple of midnight snacks, forcing them to get to the next town as quickly as possible.

"Well, you wouldn't be if you haven't eaten all those food!!! Those were supposed ta last for another 2 days!!!!" Sha Gojyo yelled, obviously aggravated. Not that he minded the warm beds and hot food. He was sick of eating whatever he ate that passed off as food those times they camped out. 

"Will you two just shut up for a sec?!" Silence. "Thank you!"

"Maa, maa…Sanzo. We all could use some proper lodgings," the voice of reason, Cho Hakkai, smiled as he silenced the engine, parking their jeep in front of an inn. By that time, the sun had dyed the lands a glowing orange, beating a hasty retreat to make way for the moon.

+~~+

"Welcome to the…" the greeting stopped abruptly. The girl with reddish-brown hair stepped out from behind the counter, amethyst eyes wide with shock. While everyone was puzzled over the behavior of the girl, Sanzo was bothered by something else.

'Those eyes…' 

"Anou, ojou-chan? Some service please?" Gojyo decided to break the silence but the girl completely ignored. Instead, she took a quivering step towards to the blond priest.

"…Tou-san…!!" she cried, clutching the front of Sanzo's robe tightly. A stunned Sanzo stiffen but let the girl clung onto him. The other three watched with open jaws.

"San…Sanzo-sama…Ne, why aren't you pushing her away!?!?" Goku stammered.

"Yeah, usually by this time, she'll be on the floor,"

"…tou-san? So, Sanzo had her when he was… five?!" Hakkai subtracted the age of the girl, approximately 18, off Sanzo's age. 

"That's not right!!!" Gojyo sweatdropped.

"…I'm gonna kill you after this…" Sanzo growled. He let the girl hang onto him a few moments more before gently pushing her away. "There's been a mistake, girl. I can't be your dad. I'm only slightly older than you."

Another blow to the gang. The cold Sanzo who never got warmer than zero degrees Celsius actually spoke to the girl they barely met tenderly!?!? 

"Demo…you really really look like him! Even the way you apart you hair!!"

"…Alright, those who are confused, say aye," the half-demon sighed. "Aye."

"Aye,"

"Aye,"

"…Aye…" The other three turned to their 'fearless leader'. "What? Can't I be confused too??"

That little exchange earned them a chuckle from the girl. Her familiar violet eyes still shone with tears but the sad tinge had left them.

"I'll try ta explain everything as best as I could,"

"We're lucky there isn't much travelers this time of the year. I wouldn't even have time to be thinking about tou-san if there were more people here," she said as she arrived with a couple of mugs of beer and some snacks on her tray. "I thought that you might want some food and something stronger than tea."

"Thanks but baka saru here can't drink," the half-demon teased.

"Hey!! I can drink! You guys just don't let me!!" Goku argued, crossing his arms angrily.

"Is that so? I'll go get you something else then," she was about to leave again but Sanzo grabbed her wrist, unwittingly exposing the black beads she wore. The exactly replica of the one he gave to Shuuei.

"Stay. And tell me everything you know…"

"My parents and I have lived here all our life. Tou-san looks just like you, but he had red hair instead,"

"Like yours?" Hakkai quipped.

"Like mine. Kaa-san had blond hair like yours, uh… Sanzo-sama and blue eyes the color of the skies on a clear day. They were good friends with this fortuneteller, Hokou-jisan. He used to baby-sit me when they went to pray by the side of the river during the coldest day in autumn. When I got older, I kinda noticed that the coldest day always happen to fall on the same date,"

"That would be?"

"The twenty-ninth day of the eleventh month," (1) 

Hakkai and Gojyo shot Sanzo a quizzical look. His confusion mirrored theirs at the current situation. _I'm human too, right?_

"And?"

"And…kaa-san was sick throughout the winter last year. Tou-san sought out any sort of remedy the doctors here suggested but to no avail. Then someone told him that the ling chi that grew in the East Mountains could cure Kaa-san and he took off. Packed everything he thought he might need and went. Kaa-san died only a couple of weeks ago and Tou-san never made it back…" the tears crept back into her eyes and her voice quivered slightly as she tried to keep her emotions in check. 

"We just came through the East Mountains, didn't we?" Goku piped up, finally joining the conversation. The older three gave him a disapproving look.

"You did? Did you see anyone in there?"

"Actually… no…we didn't,"

"…Sou ka?"

Gojyo thwacked Goku on the back of his head. "Baka saru!  Don't give people false hope!"

"Datte…" the youngest of the quartet whined. "We DID come here through that mountain!!"

"You're incorrigible…" Sanzo muttered under his breath before pulling out his cigarette and lighter to smoke.

"You shouldn't smoke. It's not good for your health," she quickly dried her tears. 

"We're gonna die sooner or later anyways,"

"…Tou-san used ta say that too,"

"Suika-chan, why did you close front doors?" a middle-aged male with chestnut-brown hair and intense gray eyes entered the back room, where all of them are gathered. Everyone turned to see who the "intruder" was and he held his breath unconsciously as soon as he caught Sanzo's eyes.

"Hokou-jisan!! I didn't know you'd be here tonight!"

"You're that fortuneteller?"

"Hai. And judging from your get-up, you must be Genjo Sanzo-hoshi we've heard so much about,"

"Hmph,"

"I'll go get some tea for you, Hokou-jisan,"

"Arigatou," he smiled as he eased into his usual seat.

"So,"

"So," Tension was building up by the second as violet met gray. Goku had shifted away from the two, joining Hakkai and Gojyo at the sidelines.

"Ahem…maybe you should settle this somewhere else. Away from Suika anyways," Hakkai reasoned.

"Fine. There's this tavern down the streets,"

"Ara?? Where's Sanzo-sama and Hokou-jisan?" Suika returned with the tea.

"They went to get a drink and have a really long talk," Goku said as he was told.

"About what?"

"Saa…" Hakkai gave a silly grin, hoping that that grin was credible enough.

+~~+

"What do you know about her parents…and how do you explain the fact that I look just like her dad?" 

"…Her parents came to me to name their 1st child. But this child, the date and time of his birth (2) was a peculiar one. He brings death to those who took care of him, like parents or mentor. So, I advised them to leave the child to the river god (3). They were uncertain and tried to ignore my warning but when strange things happened to them, I had to convince them to leave the baby," A look of regret was on Hokou's face. After all these years, even though he knew the child would be saved, he can't say it. Not even to comfort the devastated mother of Suika and possibly this young man sitting beside him.

"Strange things?"

"Yeah. Really strange things like falling plates from shelves directly above her head, being pushed by nobody and almost falling into the well when fetching water…these sort of things don't just happen for no reason, okay? These are signs from the heavens above," Hokou downed his drink and motioned for the bartender for another one. "I didn't want anything bad to happen to anyone so with their permission, I took the baby down to the river and let him drift with the tides."

"Wait, did you give the baby anything before you left him?" 

"I think I did! I wrote down his date and time of birth on a paper amulet and slipped it inside the cloth that was wrapped around him. I think I gave him a string of beads we used for prayers for luck,"

"Like the one Suika had?"

"How did you know?!?" If Hokou felt he was getting drunk, that last question had jolted him awake. "Not even her parents knew about it since I gave it to her after her mom's death."

"I saw her wearing it and…" Sanzo hesitated.

"And?" The older man prompted, wanting to hear it from the blond himself.

"And I have the exact same beads. Only I'd given to someone…close,"

"…Pardon me for asking, is your mentor…dead?" he got a nod from Sanzo.

"The person I gave the beads to—also like my teacher in a sense, was also dead. And I was headed here near the end of last year…around the time when Suika's Kaa-san died and her Tou-san disappeared,"

"I guess you know what that means, don't you?"

"Hai…" Sanzo finished his drink and paid for them both.

_'…I'd found my only surviving family…'_

+~~+

Sanzo watched as Suika washed the dishes in the kitchen. He had been watching her ever since he returned from his talk with Hokou. This young carefree girl was his sister, no doubt. It explains a lot that happened today. Especially her eyes… her hauntingly familiar amethyst eyes. He may not remember his mother's face but he remembered those eyes.

"You shouldn't peep at people," came a soft voice. Sanzo smirked at Hakkai, who had appeared behind him.

"What are you doing, Sanzo-sama… it's about time you talk to her," Gojyo added, grinning.

"Hmph… mind your own business," He stepped into the kitchen and picked up a rag and started wiping the excess water off the dishes. 

"Ara… Sanzo-sama…you don't have to," Suika started but Sanzo gave her such a look that made her stop. She smiled and continued with the dishes. 

"… Can you tell me everything about your parents?" Sanzo muttered, his violet eyes concentrating on the plates he was wiping. There was long pause before Suika started talking. 

"Kaa-san was kind and gentle…" Sanzo listened to her, his mind drew a picture of a happy family; Suika's family. The picture had a little boy with the family, with blond hair and violet eyes, laughing. For once, he felt the radiant warmth of family. And he loved every minute of it.

+~~+

"Pack up now. We'll go at the first light of dawn," Sanzo barged into the inn and demanded.

"Demo, Sanzo…dawn's just minutes away!!"

"That's why I say pack up now,"

"Sanzo-sama's cranky when he doesn't get his beauty sleep!" Gojyo teased but felt the tip of a gun—Sanzo's gun pressed against the side of his head. "Joking, joking!! Jeez, can't you take a joke?"

"No. Now get a move on!" And they did. They piled into the jeep and sped out of town in a jiffy.

"Ohaiyo, minna-san—ara? Where're they??"

"Ohaiyo, Suika-chan. I guess they left before you woke up, knowing how late a sleeper you are," 

"I woke up early today, okay??!! And I thought I could at least pack them some bento for lunch…" she pouted. 

"Well, I'm sure they know it's the thought that counts," Suika let loose a sigh.

"I guess you're right," she yawned. "We should open up the inn then."

Hokou chuckled. There wasn't much that could bring this girl down. Even after a double blow of tragedies, she managed to bounce right back to her feet.

'I think this runs in the family coz from what I'd figured, Sanzo-hoshi is the same too,' 

+~~+

"Ne, Sanzo~?! Why don't we stay a little bit longer in that town?? We haven't even stopped to buy food!" Goku pouted.

"Urusai!! We'll stop to buy some on the way out of town!"

"You know, you don't have to go on with this journey. You could just stay here and enjoy the warmth of family that you obvious lack," Gojyo grinned mischievously, always looking for a way to rattle Sanzo's chains. This time, however, the monk just sighed and sank deeper in thoughts.

_'…I could just stay here and enjoy the warmth of family…but…what's stopping me?'_

Hakkai stole a glance at the blond, already knowing what was going on inside his head. Actually, Hakkai himself half-expecting Sanzo to come back with a retort right about now but the latter just kept quiet. "Maybe you don't want to endanger her life, since those demons always know where and you are. Eating a Sanzo equals eternal life to them, remember?"

"'Ch…they really should stop listening to rumors,"

"Ah, but rumors travel the fastest…faster than facts,"

"Aaaahhhh~!!!!!!! I'm confused. Are we still talking about getting supplies or we're talking about eating Sanzo?"

"We're not talking about anything as of now. Shuddup and let me sleep in peace!!!!" 3 shots were fired and everything went quiet, even the birds stop their chirping.

=!!~The End~!!=

* * *

Woohoo~!!! Finished in like…uh…6 hours. *Hides in a corner* I'm so slow!!! Other people could finish a 2000 words story in like 2 hours and I took 3 times more than that!!

Then again, this is like, the longest I'd written!!! O_O 2100+ words!!! I'm so proud of my small small accomplishments! =P 

**Points to take note:**

_The 29th day of the 11th month (1)_

We all know Sanzo-sama's DOB is 29th November (and I'm gonna keep it as that after this story) but since we're dealing with China here, the lunar dates don't go according to the Western calendar so I can't put 29th November as Sanzo's DOB, okay? I changed the dates to suit the Chinese calendar. A lil background info: the Chinese calendar have 12 months also but only 29 or 30 days, usually 29. And 1st of May is not on the same as day the 1st day of the 5th month. The Chinese lunar month comes later.

_Date and time of birth (2)_

Chinese parents are still practicing the naming of their child with respect to their child's date and time of birth. They wanna find the most suitable name that does not clash with it since clashing would most probably mean bad luck. But some unfortunate individuals have bad date and time of birth naturally. You could either give the child a good name that could counter-act the bad luck or pray at a temple to seek forgiveness for whatever the child did in his/her previous life (for mild cases). For really serious cases, like the one I gave to Sanzo (sorry Sanzo-sama!!), there really isn't much anyone could do about it. What I did here for the sake of the story was kinda selfish. Since no one wants a child with bad luck (ancient Chinese people are very superstitious), I got them to abandon Sanzo. Bad gyuumajo, bad! 

[On the positive note, I share the same western DOB as Sanzo, 29/11, so whatever I did to him, I'll willingly take the consequence—even if I did put 29/11 as the Chinese lunar date here instead!! =P]

_River god (3)_

There are lots of gods, especially in Taoism. Journey to the West was based on those gods in Taoism and there is this god, or rather, gods that controls all the oceans, seas, rivers and streams. They are dragons and from the "royal family of dragons", some were selected to take care of different bodies of water on the mortal realm. Some took care of the eastern ocean, some took care of the western seas, and obviously, we have someone taking care of the rivers. It's like the Chinese equivalent of a kappa (Japanese river demon).

I guess that's about all…

Read and review~!!

^_~


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